Friday, April 30, 2010

I don't make a lot of father's day cards but I needed to make some for my card racks at the stores. I was once again inspired by Susan's blog simplicitybylateblossom to make this seahorse card. I thought it was great since the male sea horse does carry the babies until they are born. There aren't a lot of father day stamps out there so I had to make due with what I had. The bronze Star Dreams card stock doesn't show up to well in the photo but it does add some sprinkle to the card. Stamp by A Muse and seahorse punch by Martha Stewart.

We are very lucky and have some really nice parks around our house. Every morning and evening I take Annie for her walk and sticking throwing work out. She is a very stick focused type of dog. I'm also working with her on maybe someday doing search and rescue work. She now can walk on very narrow boards that wobble, go through tunnels and slide down slides. One of the draw backs to teaching her all this, is she is able to figure out how to get things we put out of reach at home. She can climb on to the smallest space (less than 6" square) then stand on her hind legs to get whatever she thinks she needs to have. I've watched her when she is trying to figure out how to get to a slipper (one of her favorite things to chew on) that I've put out of her reach. One time she moved a box closer to the table then tested one corner before climbing on to to get the slipper. Annie is a very smart dog but her best trait is that she has a very sweet temperament and is very gently.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Last night was my card making group "Cornflakes" get together. It was I think our 4th anniversary so we went out to dinner and then we went over to Charlene's house for a really super good chocolate cake. I've post just a few of them. It's always inspiration to see what the flakes make and I come home full of ideas.Card by: Laurie Jan, Rose, Charlene

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Rain or shine Annie and I hit the trail at 6:00 AM. Not my favorite time to get up but I have to walk her a good hour before breakfast. Mr Purrcy (the cat) wakes me up at the crack of dawn, (he's better than an alarm clock) so I can't over sleep. This morning it was a very light misty rain. It made all the roses (which are in full bloom now) just sparkle. I decided after our walk to go back out with my camera and take a few photo before the sun made everything too bright. Annie is ready now to go hiking with me so I'm going to start wearing my backpack and using my walking sticks on our daily walks. I have to get her use to walking on her leash while I have all my gear on. Should be interesting the first couple of times out the door.

I'm getting ready to do a backgrounds card class so I'm working on my samples. Since I get a lot of beginners in my classes, I like to keep things simple. I was inspired by girlgeek101 (see link in post below) cards she posted on SCS. Gave me a creative boost to get my samples done.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I've been working on stocking up my card racks I have at various stores so I'm in production mode. I took a creative break to make some backgrounds after being inspired by girlgeek101 post on SCS. I call this old school stamping, since I used my old beat up sponges and Marvy Matchable ink pads. I really like my Marvy ink pads and they do work with Copics but they have been around a long time and stores don't carry them any more. The stamp is from Memory Box.

Monday, April 26, 2010

What do you do when your puppy chews the corner of a whole ream of card stock? Yes, little Miss Annie got her fangs into some of my stash. So now I have to make a bunch of square cards. I'm stocking up on baby cards for my card racks which are getting low. Very old rocking horse punch, scallop square punch and Martha Stewart's edge punches.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

When I have a creative block (which happens all the time), I make background papers. I take a big sheet of heavy weight watercolor paper and slap on some twinkling H2O paint. It takes a lot of time to paint out of those little tubs of paint. It will sit in the corner of the studio for months before I do anything with it. After being inspired by Susan's blog (see post below) I made a card using my watercolor stash. The little butterfly (in the original card post) didn't look right so I went for a more modern art look. I edged it with a gold Krylon pen and mounted it on black card stock. Guess you could call it a manly card. :)

I have tons of washi paper scraps all over my studio. I never want to throw any of it out. I was inspired again by Susan's blog simplicity by a card she did with this layout. I just changed it to washi paper and added a gold mat. It's a simply card but you do have to have the right type of tape for the washi paper, which can't handle rolling dry adhesive tape. Martha Stewart's butter punch and Star Dream gold paper.

I'm always looking for simple CAS (clean and simple) baby cards to make for my card racks. I'm always low on baby cards because I don't have a lot of baby stamps. This is a very old punch, from a company that I think has been out of business for long time. For some reason I had it stored with my Christmas punches. I was able to use up some of scrap paper stash, which is always a good thing. The original idea came from Susan's blog simplicity and I just added more layers.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Rain or shine I take Annie out for her walks. It's pretty hard to get out the door at 6:30 am, when it's raining. Walking Annie three times a day is very important in keeping her puppy energy in check. One good thing about walking in the rain, is that Annie can be off leash most of the time. The early morning joggers are not out and no one else is walking their dogs. We have the park and creek trail all to ourselves.

Monday, April 19, 2010

It was a very busy weekend. I did a make-n-take at one of the stores on Saturday and helped out at a big garage sale at my cousin's house. On top of all that, I've caught a summer cold. Not being able to sleep at night and having to walk Annie 3-4 hours a day has really wiped me out.

I was inspired by the tea set I got at the garage sale to do a tea party card class. Thought it would be a good way to combine card making and scone baking!

I've also been busy designing custom invitations and party favors, which I can't post photos of on my blog.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Annie is growing up way too fast for me! These photos are only about a month apart in the same spot in our kitchen.We went to the dog park today with hopes of meeting up with Annie's puppy pack. It was nightmare of a walk. When we first got there, a pack of about 8 little dogs (all off leash) were walking toward us. I kept Annie on her leash and thought the ladies and dogs would just walk by. The whole pack stopped because Annie being a puppy was too cute not to want to pet. I explained that Annie has been attacked three times by little dogs, so I don't let her get to close anymore. I know sooner said that when one of the rat dogs went after Annie. I was prepared this time (had my hiking boots on) and got my boot between them and was about to punt kick the rat across the park when the owner grab it. We then went down to the dog park and no on was there. This was the first time we had the park to ourselves so we played fetch. Annie was having a great time and was actully bringing the balls back to me. Three big mastiffs, full of energy then came into the park. Has soon as they were let off their leashes, they went after Annie. She started screaming and ran to me. Now I'm in the middle of these huge dogs barking and nippy at Annie. I smacked the biggest male dog on the head and knee it in the side as I was saying "NO" in my very alpha dog voice. Lucky for us another big dog came into the park and the mastiff pack went after it. This was our cue to leave. As we were leaving the park the mastiff owner was kicking his dogs (because they were at this point not listening to his commands) to get them to leave the other dog they had cornered into the fence alone. The lady of the other dog was asking if they were friendly and from her body language she was very scared. Really, do you think it's a good thing for anyone to be surrounded by out of control mastiffs?One of the things the "dog whisper" talks about is don't go into a dog park until you are sure of the dogs inside. If this lady had paid attention to what was happening to Annie, she would have been warned not to come in.

Once again another card I CASE from Susan's blog. simplicitybylateblossom. What I liked about this card was that I finally got to use my new Crop-a-dile corner (has both 1/4" and 1/2") rounder that I've had for almost a year. The squares are 3/4" so you have to use a smaller corner rounder or they turn out funny looking. I didn't stamp a sentiment on it since it's a sample I made for the ladies at the Yu Ai-Kai.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Another card I CASE from somewhere. It was one of the cards I did for the ladies at the Yu Ai-Kai Japanese Senior Center, where I volunteer once a month. What's nice about this card is that the ladies can make more at home once they get the flower punch.

Monday, April 12, 2010

My "go to" blog for simple but creative card ideas is Susan's blogsimplicitybylateblossom which I visit every morning while I make my to do list for the day and drink my morning tea. I sort like to think I'm having tea time with Susan. I was asked to design some CAS (clean and simple) cards for a party coming up this weekend for a group of ladies getting together to craft. With all the early morning walks and major carb over load, my creative mojo has been on empty. This card design came from card Susan did from a coffee mug she saw at Starbucks. Check out her blog for the whole story.

I've always liked the idea of high tea and scones. One of the advantage of getting up before sunrise is that you have a lot of time in the morning to get things done. Annie gets to walk off leash at the park, especially when it's raining. Very few people walk their dogs that early. Back home while the washing machine and dryer were running, I made some scones. I'm not a big fan of scones but after making them I can see why people like them - the amount of butter, sugar and sour cream would make your heart stop. I made mine extra crisp on the bottom and top them with some homemade berry jam. Nice and tasty right out of the oven!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

It's cold and raining here in California. It's the kind of weather that makes me want to cook comfort food. My all time favorite is pot roast - just love how it fills the house with good smells. I also made a pineapple upside down cake. Thought it would be good to use the second oven I had to have when we remodeled several years ago. I'm on the hunt for the recipe that Gayle's restaurant in Santa Cruz uses for their pineapple muffins. Reward for anyone with that recipe.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

I know some of Mr. Purrcy's fans have been wondering how he is handling a new puppy in the house. At one point he and Annie were the same size but that was a long time ago. Annie still is very interested in wanting to play with Purrcy but he doesn't in his words "lower himself to that level" of play. Purrcy is a smart cat and knows the schedule I have for Annie. He comes in at night after Annie goes to sleep and goes out in the morning before I get ready for our morning walk. Still no contact but Purrcy doesn't hiss and blow up like a balloon when they meet.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Next month is the "Cat's Meow" stamping weekend up in Yosemite. I won't be going this year (at least I don't think I will be going) but I do want to trade ATC cards with everyone. I'm sending a batch up with some friends to trade for me. Here's the first round of ATC cards I came up with using some new punches. I thought I had ordered the SU butterfly punch but got the bird punch instead. I liked it so much I decided to keep it and order the butterfly punch later. I airbrushed the background with my Copic marker and used on of the new Frisker's border punches. Didn't get to fancy since I have to make 100.

Our new queen bees arrived today. The UPS guy was so curious about the label on the box, hubby gave him a tour our hives in the backyard. They are a special bred of queens that are suppose to be resistance to some of the mites and other pests that can weaken a hive. Hubby was so excited that he set the ladies up in their new hives as soon as he got the box open.

Annie has two different "packs" that she runs with. At the dog park I call them the "puppy pack" since three of the dogs are under 7 months old. A new puppy was added this week named Miss Scout. She was at first very shy (came from a high kill shelter) but now she is running with "the big dogs" and having a great time. It's too funny to watch Miss Scout tell the big girls to back off when they start to play to rough. Lots of ear chewing, body slaming and running in big circles. Annie, Miss Scout, Jemma, Tolameesh.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Hubby has been getting a lot of calls to pick up swarms. It's bee swarm season right now. We use the swarms to restock some of our hives. The caught swarm has to come to our house for a few days to make sure everything is OK before heading out to some of our locations. Now I'm all for bees but huddy has a really bad habit of putting them right in the middle of my garden. I can't work on the vegetable beds or compost piles when a new swarm is here. The bees are always a little "hot", meaning not happy about being moved and they don't want you near their hive. I asked when this swarm was going to be moved to another location, I got the usual "if I don't answer in whole sentences, I don't have to do anything about" look. While, I'm not the VP of the bee guild for nothing. I said either the bees get move this week or I will do it. I don't handle the bees (hubby knows this) but I can dial the phone and call about of 20 bee keepers who would be happy to come take swarm off my hands. :) The photo above is one of the swarms that is now in a hive. Remember is you see a swarm (make sure it's bees) call your local bee guild to have them relocated.

Monday, April 5, 2010

One of my Colorado cousins, Gary (the guy that makes pies - hmmm that would make a good name for a pie company)makes the world's best pies. They are so good, that I asked if he would make some for me to bring back home to California. He's a good sport and not only did he make several pies for the birthday party, he made several for his California relatives to take home. With all the new restrictions for what you can take on a plane, I didn't know what catergory pie would fall into. It's not the pie tin as it turns out to be the problem but the filling. Cream or custard type pie are a big no no (think pumpkin pie) and fruit pies are in the gray area. I was lucky this time and my two pies (one apple and berry/apple) made it through after going an extra security check. Yep, I had pie for breakfast.

My Aunt Hagi turned 100 (in Japanese years) this weekend so we flew out to Colorado to help celebrate. She is doing great and you would never know she was that old. My cousins (her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren) put on a major food fest party on Sunday. We played the family game all day, guessing how we were related to everyone at the party. It's a big clan so it was a lot fun meeting second, third and fourth cousins. I will post better photos once the party pictures are download. This photo of my Aunt was taken with a cell photo.

Friday, April 2, 2010

I wish I could say I have a paper crafting puppy but really she is just teething big time. Cardboard boxes are her favorite. She has found my cardstock paper stash that I use to keep in tubs under my work table. Of course that had to be moved. Nothing worse than finding a whole ream of StarDreams cardstock with wet teeth marks in the corners. Annie is almost four months and now weighs 40 pounds. She has been attacked (yes, full on "let me rip your throat out" attack) several times by out of control little dogs who have issues with big dogs, so I've taken to wearing my hiking boots. Next little dog that goes after Annie is going to get the boot instead of me grabbing them by the neck. I don't think it will be an issue once Annie is an adult.

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What's with the blog name?

Flat Fish Paper Arts was born many years ago when blogging first started. My family did a lot of camping and diving along the California coast. California halibut are huge fish that start out as any normal fish. As they age, one eye will start to move to the other side and the halibut will become flat so it can lay on the bottom of the ocean with both eyes facing up.

I always like the idea that we all start out the same but life experiences slowly changes us. In my case, my creative talents went the way of paper arts. Flatfish are always looking up when they mature and as with any artist, we see inspiration in everything around us - always looking up.

Evan and her flatfish

Years ago a local dive shop had a photo of a diver who caught a halibut so big he had to throw it over his jeep to take the picture. Our little spoof with our daughter sitting in her toy jeep with dad's halibut on the hood. 1987